SpartanBlog » Michigan State Spartans

Hail Mary For the Win!

kutang — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:34:27 +0000

If Bret Bielma and his Wisconsin Vadgers team stubs anymore toes, they’re not going to have any left.

It was a miraculous win over Mark Dantonio’s Spartan team against their first Top 10 ranked opponent. I would have to say that this is the second best game that I have watched after the “Little Giants” fake field goal play against Notre Dame in 2010. Just due to the fact that the fake field goal was more of a surprise and gutsy call.

The opening possession by the Badgers had me thinking that perhaps the Badgers are a lot better than we gave them credit for. Especially by how much they ran up scores against powder puff teams. Then came our first possession and the Badgers D was able to force a fumble. A sinking feeling my gut soon occurred when Wisconsin was able to capitalize on our turnovers.

But all was not lost. In the second quarter, our Spartans seemed to have settle down. Our defense was able to force a safety, a blocked field goal, and a blocked punt shifted the momentum over to our favor when heading into half time. The start of the second half, it seemed no one could really accomplish anything. It kind of felt like the first quarter all over. Each team feeling each other to see what adjustments the opposing team made.

The fourth quarter started slow but gradually became of heart pounding excitement. With Michigan State up by 14 points at one time, Wisconsin was able to storm back and score 14 straight to tie up the game. With some questionable play clock management by bumbling Bret Bielma, we had enough time to attempt to toss up a prayer. With a miraculous bounce and catch by Nichol, it was originally ruled not a touchdown. Obviously the ruling had to be reviewed.

In the end, the replay booth reviewed the call and called it a touchdown. For the majority, a lot of the Badgers fan agreed with the overruled call. With a few minority, saying that the call should have stayed since the video and freeze frames were “not conclusive”. Some even clamoring that the “ball” is actually the defenders hand.

There are some minority Wisconsin fans who believe that the original non-TD call was correct just because the camera angle isn’t a perfect perpendicular line as shown above or how the referee standing at the goal line was in perfect position to make the correct call. With live action events that are extremely quick, it’s hard for the human eye to keep up. In the end, I think I believe the right call was made. Majority of the Wisconsin fans believe it as well. And amazingly enough, quite a few Michigan fans too.

So what exactly did we learn this weekend against the Badgers?

1. Our patchwork has steadily improved since the Ohio State game. The bye week before the Michigan Wolverines certainly helped.

2. Due to our steady progress of our patchwork offensive line, we are now able to establish a little better run game which was lacking against better teams. This is preventing Kirk Cousins getting pressured into throwing off his back foot and allowing him to make for the most part sound decisions.

3. Narduzzi is slowly but surely, finally getting the players he needs to play his style of defense. You can see the steady improvements throughout this season. I think as a Michigan State fans, majority of us were calling for his head the first few seasons he was here.

4. Wisconsin believes that they were still the better but choked the game away and gave no credit to our defense who forced those errors on their offense. But that’s usually the case with any fan base. Be it Michigan State or any other schools.

5. I think it’s pretty safe to say that we are no longer the “Same ole Spartans” underneath Dantonio. He has instilled a mentality of never giving up and to fight to the last minute. The players have bought into this mentality and it shows with us winning three out of the four games in one toughest stretch in Big 10 football that I have seen. We now need to beat Nebraska at Lincoln and win out the games we are suppose to win.

6. As much as I badmouth Nichol, he was a hero for this game and is a great team player and Spartan.

7. The last is penalties by Michigan State against the Badgers for this game. We are called a “dirty” defense team but with 0/0 penalties against Wisconsin? Dirty program? More like Michigan couldn’t match our intensity last week and had to cry to mommy about how rough we were playing.

Here’s hoping for a win in Lincoln next week and continue our improving play!

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Making Michigan our Bichigan

kutang — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:58:16 +0000

Molon Labe.

The Paul Bunyan trophy gets to stay in East Lansing for another year! With a 28-14 win, we can claim a 4-0 win streak against the boys in Piss and Blue.

It was a great win by our boys in Green and er… bronze on a cold and windy day. A dominant performance on both sides of the ball against Hoke led We Are Michigan team. It seems that the bye week helped make our offensive line a more cohesive unit and allowed our players to nurse their injuries.

I’m thinking that Michigan established a defensive plan that was geared more towards trying to stop our passing game due to our lack of ability to run the ball. I think we surprised Mattison and defense as to how committed to the run we were. Where a running game that we lacked against better teams appeared suddenly out of nowhere. A magnificent 213 yards of rushing was achieved against the Wolverines so called top 5 defense. Edwin “Rock” Baker provided 167 yards on 26 attempts. Kirk Cousins did enough to manage the game where winds were gusting up to 30 mph.

So how good was the patchwork offensive line? Mike Martin, a Wolverine DE NFL prospect, was no where to be found. Jordan Kovacs? The same. The offensive line was dominant enough enough make them both non-factors in the game.

On our defensive side of the ball, it was an ugly start. When Michigan marched right down the field and drew first blood, I thought this might be a close game. But the Spartans settle down and for the most part took care of business. Narduzzi continued off using the same blue print we used last year to limit Denard “Shoelace/Mr. September Heisman” Robinson. We contained Denard and forced him to try and beat us with his arm in 30 mph ours wind. It resulted in marvelous 9/24 passing for 123 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT a remarkable 18 carries for 42 yards.

Of course there were some ugly incidents on the field. Especially you Mr Gholston (Was that face mask helmet twist on Denard really necessary? I’m all for playing with intensity and but that was just brutal). We commited 13 personal fouls for 124 yards. Our personal fouls essentially WAS the Michigan offense. It allowed Michigan come into our territory and gave them better field position and a better chance to score. If this was a better Michigan team instead of an over hyped one, they would have taken advantage of those fouls and would perhaps won the game. We even gave them two fumbles in our territory to help their cause.

At the same time. I was pleased as to how aggressive our defense played. It showed we would not be intimidated and that this is not the same Michigan State the past yonder years. We will not fold underneath our mistakes and penalties. We are going to be a force to be reckoned with. Of course Michigan doesn’t consider Michigan State to be a rival. They only consider a school to be a rival when they get their asses handed down to them numerous times by schools, ie Ohio State University.

In the end, this is a game of football. It’s a physical sport. We are not playing patty cakes or hopscotch. The aggressor makes the rules. We punched Michigan right in their mouth and they cowered.

4 more years and more to come.

P.S.

After having a few months to think about the Pro Combat Jersey, I’ve decided I too like them. Remember, these were designed for the players and future Spartan football players who thought they were badass. Not for the fans.

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Michigan vs Michigan State

kutang — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:37:20 +0000

So Michigan faces Michigan State in Spartan Stadium in East Lansing this coming Saturday. This game will be a testament as to which State of Michigan team is going to better.

As a Spartan fan, it’s always a gut wrenchingwhen playing against team Denard Robinson. As much as I dislike the University of Michigan skunkbears, I do respect the humble, play making ability of Denard Robinson. It’s just too bad Denard doesn’t know how to tie his shoes and that the vast Michigan fans are incapable of learning to be humble like Denard.

Coming off a bye week after beating Ohio State, I’m hoping to see a more solidified offensive line. They did a fairly decent job of protecting Kirk Cousins, but to win this game, we’re definitely going to need the offensive line to open up running lanes. The team with the most rushing yards has won 38 of the last 41 games. With the predicted weather forecast of having 30 mph winds, the run game becomes extremely important. Although with all the luck Michigan is having this season, the 30 mph winds will most likely be an advantage to the Walverines. Due to how Denard throws the ball under ideal conditions, I expect the 30 mph winds to lead him to throw tight spirals. It’s either that or the balls will float into the stands.

Defensively, I’m hoping we can contain Denard like last year and force him to pass and make more decisions. After all, we did set the blue print for Big Ten play. Watching him play, his passing game seemed to have regressed. With that being said, I expect Worthy and company to continue their defensive dominance which was shown against Ohio State and knock Denard around and rattle him quite a bit. This will hopefully force Denard to throw his wildly inaccurate passes to become even more wildly inaccurate which will than be easily picked off by our secondary for six points. I believe our front four will be able to take control of Michigan’s offensive line, but it would then be a game of preventing Denard from making a play with his feet from a busted play. We all know that when Denard is pressured and forced to throw, he tends to throw off his back foot and the ball floats like a lame duck.

I imagine that this game will be more of a defensive battle with both offense struggling. It’s going to be a game of who has the capability to make big plays, less mistakes, and which team has the better defense. I will admit that Michigan’s defense has improved since the last few years. They still sometimes show signs of being a crappy defense, but overall they have unfortunately improved. Of course when you were ranked dead last in defensive statistics a year ago, you really have no where to go but up. In the end, I think the we have the defensive edge. We may have lost some good players (Greg Jones and Eric Gordon), but a lot of newcomers have stepped up.

I also think in order for Michigan State to win, we’re going to put a lot of points on them quickly and maintain pressure on the Denard. Michigan has a done a pretty decent job adjusting in the second half on the defense and managed comeback wins. Most likely by luck. But a win is a win.

I’m thinking that this will be a close game. I’m thinking a 31-24 win for the Spartans giving the Waaah-lverines their first lost of the season and we keep the Paul Bunyan trophy for another year in East Lansing.

MSU v. UM: A Larger Than Life Matchup

Tgray — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:57:36 +0000

Sparty beating Michigan 3 years in a row is great. Sparty pounding the crap out of the Wolverines for the 4th year in a row will put East Lansing in a state of euphoria as the Spartans keep the Paul Bunyan trophy for another year.

Saturday’s game will be a career defining game for players on both sides of the ball – especially for the seniors. For Michigan, their seniors can have the dubious distinction of losing to their in-state rivals 4 years in a row. On the flip side, MSU seniors can let out a big “boo-yah!” for providing an explanation as to why Michigan’s uniform pants are yellow….. Maize? Whatever……

However, as people living in the real world, we know Sparty is going to have to work hard for the win against the 6-0 Wolverines.

Coach Mark Dantonio’s squad needs to adopt the philosophy of college guys on spring break: Score early and score often.

Looking at the stats, the Spartans have outscored their opponents 89-27 in the 1st half and 140 to 51 total. Most of the pain Sparty has inflicted has been in the 2nd quarter in which MSU opponents gave up a total of 58 points in the first 5 games versus the 13 points Sparty’s competition has been able to muster in that same quarter.

But what about Michigan? Yeah, what about ‘em?

Sure they’ve outscored their opponents 228-79. So what?

They beat Notre Dame. So what?

They also beat Minnesota 58-0. Who cares? North Dakota State and New Mexico State also beat Minnesota. Minnesota just plain sucks this year. The fact of the matter is UM hasn’t faced a team (with the exception of Notre Dame) that posed a serious threat.

As for MSU, many believed Ohio State would beat the Spartans. Of course, that didn’t happen. Even with a tepid performance on offense, the Spartan’s defense (except for the TD they gave up with :10 left…grrrrrr) played well to secure the win. The two things the Spartan defense need to do is 1) contain Denard Robinson; and 2) stand their ground on 3rd down. Through last week’s game, Michigan has a 56% 3rd down conversion rate. Sparty needs to knock that conversion rate down a few points.

Now, more than ever, is the time for Kirk Cousins, B.J. Cunningham, La’veon Bell and the rest of the Spartan offense to convert on 3rd down (!). A 35% conversion rate on 3rd down is the rough equivalent to the Detroit Lions’ winning percentage from the last few seasons….before this one. If Sparty can’t convert on 3rd down like they should, you might as well change the channel to watch some chick-flick or some documentary on salmon spawning.

You know full well that Spartan Stadium is going to be THE place to be on Saturday. Will the Spartans shove the Wolverines down to their first loss of the season and their 4th consecutive loss of the rivalry? Or are the Wolverines rabid enough to go completely wild so they can remain unbeaten? Or will somebody have to call PETA to report Sparty pounding on the Wolverines?

Go Green!

Two Words for Wolverine Fans…..

Tgray — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:37:19 +0000

Michigan State vs Notre Dame – What to Expect

kutang — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 02:11:03 +0000

Being a Michigan State fan, I like to think I’m a fairly level-headed fan who doesn’t wear the “green” colored glasses.

Facing Notre Dame will be the first real challenge of the season for Michigan State. This is especially true when we are playing them in South Bend – home of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. To some Spartan fans, South Bend is Spartan Stadium South, since we have won 6 of the last 7 in South Bend. Not to discount the two prior wins, however, FAU and Youngstown State aren’t exactly on the same level as Michigan State and Notre Dame. Both of those teams don’t have the athletes and talent to compete with the likes of Michigan State…. At least not yet they do. When we faced both FAU and Youngstown State, we were able to dominate athletically against YSU and physically dominate over FAU. Against Notre Dame, we’re going to have to do both.

I think our offensive line is going to be tested this weekend. After watching Notre Dame (whom I’ve never seen so hard to try to give the game away) play against Michigan, I think it’s fairly safe to say they have a talented defensive squad. They were able to contain Denard Robinson for most of the game, cause 3 interceptions, and hold him to an 11/24 performance completion rate. Minus the meltdown at the end with Notre Dame’s coverage against Michigan’s horrible, horrible, passing offense, they had a pretty good game plan against Michigan.

With our offensive line being shuffled around due to our senior starters graduating, I’m hoping after a few rough 3 and outs, our offensive line gets settled down and is able to protect and open up lanes for both Kirk and our running backs. Right now, I’d probably give a slight edge to Notre Dame’s defense. At the same time, if all it takes to beat Notre Dame is to throw a toss up ball to BJ Cunningham to win… well… that’s essentially how Michigan was able to beat Notre Dame.

On the defensive side, because Notre Dame is starting Rees, a freshman QB, who managed to cough up a crucial fumble, and throw a few timely picks, will be confused by our defense. Due to our vanilla play calling, we shouldn’t have too much film for them to study besides the defensive film from the 2010 football season. Even then, I think the defense was somewhat tailored around Greg Jones. If Worthy and company are able to dominate the trenches and rough up Rees, this will hopefully take pressure off of our secondary which – in effect – takes Michael Floyd out of the game. I’d give our defense a slight edge over Notre Dame.

Special teams: I’d say we have a slight edge as well. Keshawn Martin and Nick Hill are play makers. Expect them to cause some head explosions for Brian Kelly.

Emotionally, I’m going to say it’s a tie. Notre Dame has lost 2 close games in a row and do not want to lose a third. Michigan State, on the other hand, is looking to prove that they shouldn’t be the underdog. All across the nation, a majority of the media believe that the Fighting Irish will finally get their win. I’m guessing the media didn’t really watch the Notre Dame/Michigan game very closely.

If the past history is any indicator, I’m thinking that this game is going to be a fairly close. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have started 0-2 for the season and are hungry for a win. I’m sure they will also be attempting to avenge a heart breaking loss last year against the fake field goal, “Little Giants”. I can’t really see either team dominating one another at this time. I think it’s going to be a defensive battle, who can make plays, and who makes the least mistakes.

I’m going to say for this game Michigan State sneaks out a win against the Irish. 34-24. I think Kirk Cousins, BJ Cunningham, and our running backs have the experience to get us the win. If we dominate them too, even better.

Here’s hoping our Spartans are well prepared and have come to play hard to get us another win! Go Green!

Michigan State University’s Nike Pro Combat Uniforms Unveiled

kutang — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 04:54:50 +0000

Michigan State recently unveiled their Nike Pro Combat Uniforms that they will be wearing when facing the skunk bears of University of Michigan on October 15.

Made by Nike. lolumad Michigan? Jeally much?

As a fan of Michigan State, I’m still not exactly sure how I feel about them. For one, the word “Spartans” have replaced the players last names on the back of the jersey; and two, I certainly have mixed feelings about the colors.

While I do enjoy the sharpness of the look and the bronze and green colors, the lack of white is throwing me off. With no white to be found on these uniforms, it seems so foreign to me after living and breathing the Green and White colors since birth. I guess the color scheme of a super dark green, bronze, and black hasn’t really sunk in for me. Probably due to the fact that these colors remind me a bit of Baylor and University of Southern Florida.

Anywho, to understand why the color bronze was chosen jersey, is that it represents two things. One, the bronze color is a homage to the early 1900′s, where Michigan State College colors, I’m assuming, was bronze and green. I’m basing my guess on the winged helmets we had in 1933. The is a tribute more of a symbolic gesture. Honoring the ferocious warriors of Sparta who carried those damn heavy bronze shields when they went to battle.

My uniform was created by a third grader!

Another interesting and historic tribute that is being is the quote “Molon Labe” which will be inscribed on the back of their collars. The quote “Molon Labe” roughly translates to “come and take them”. A response supposedly given by the Spartans when ordered by the Persians to surrender their weapons.

In my opinion, the only thing I would really change on the uniform is the black pants. If we were to add some white, I would use the white to replace the black pants. Bronze, white, and green would represent Michigan State well.

I would also like to state that these uniforms look tenfold better than the throwback uniforms that Adidas provided to the little sisters of Ann Arbor. Michigan’s throwback uniform looked as if Adidas asked a third grader to design what they thought a good outfit for the football players would look like. Or by one of Michigan’s football player who is majoring in the extremely challenging and strenuous General Studies program.

Michigan's "I feel so pretty" uniform when they face the Spartans of Michigan State on October 15.

Anyways, Michigan being Michigan, the little sisters who like to whine, complain, and are the jealous types, are not be outdone by Michigan State’s Pro Combat Uniforms by Nike. Rumor has it, the Waah-verines of Michigan will be dressed in outfits of their own when facing Michigan State. Brady “I like to point at things” Hoke stated that “We’re Michigan” and forced to have David Brandon create an outfit for his football players to wear. From what I hear, Michigan’s uniform is nearing completion with a few minor details that needs to be adjusted before the outfit is ready to wear. Changes that are still needed to be made is the removal of the dolphin logo and replace with the block M and the helmet. Everything else is going to stay as is. An image for your sneak peak viewing pleasure of the outfit is provided on the left. It’s a spectacular powder blue and white and screams I’m so fearsome! Rawr!

Overall, I’m fairly pleased with our Nike combat uniforms (minus the lack of white) and cannot wait to see our players wearing these high tech outfits when they defeat Michigan and their Swiss cheese of a defense.

Now… where can I get these sweet jerseys and what are your thoughts on these jerseys?

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Michigan State v. Notre Dame – NCAA 2012 Simulation

admin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:37:36 +0000

So while we were here at the office today, cranking out angry letters on behalf of my clients I simmed the MSU vs. Notre Dame game on NCAA Football 2012. I have all the real rosters, so the players were as close to the real thing as we can get without cloning them and making them duke it out in the courtyard. Next to me was my friend, and rather famous affiliate marketer, who is a Notre Dame fan….I knew this was going to be interesting. So in between my verbal prose, I caught glimpses of the game. Here’s what I saw:

Notre Dame strikes first, after Wood (giggle) sneaks through a hole (double giggle) and into the endzone. Michigan State strikes back with a 6 yard run by Kirk Cousins. At the end of the first quarter, our Michigan State Spartans are up 17 – 10. The second quarter the spartans go up by another 13 to make the score 30-10. We looked great, with Cousins having thrown 2 TD passes and ran for one.

Brian Kelly must have taken a note from Brady Hoke’s playbook and started pointing and yelling at inanimate objects (like Wood) , because after halftime Notre Dame racks up 17 points to our 3, with one of the scores being on a 56 yard interception return by Harrison Smith. Things are not looking good folks, especially as we go to the fourth quarter and Floyd grabs a 53 yard TD pass. With only 3 minutes and 36 seconds to go, Notre Dame has pulled ahead 40 to 33. Just when all looks lost, Kirk Cousins leads the spartans downfield throwing a 13 yard TD pass to Celek with only 1 minute 17 seconds left to tie up the score.

After decent return, the Irish drive down to the 20 and look like they are going to run the clock down and kick a field goal to win but Wood coughs up the rock and the Spartans hang on to go into overtime.

In overtime, MSU settles for a field goal after a 3 and out. Notre Dame drives and just when it looks like they may score RJ Williamson intercepts it and takes it down field to rub it in the face of the fighting Irish. Michigan State squeaks by with a 49-40 win in overtime.

So there you have a Spartan win but not a pretty one.

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